At the outset of the new millennium, security has become a catchword in a wide range of contexts: international politics, immigration policies, development and humanitarian interventions, crisis management and peace building, financial markets and environmental crises. Security – as a normative ideal – is inherently a multifaceted concept that is used not only as a tool for explanation and analysis but, at times, as a legitimization for different forms of interventionism, policy-making and concrete practices in various parts of the world. Both the content and the scope of security remain largely undetermined and, undoubtedly, will continue to be so. It is a timely task to critically explore the multiple dimensions of security as we understand and, at times, promote it – particularly in the global South.
Keynote speeches:
Prof. Michaelle L. Browers, Wake Forest University, United States
Crossing ideological and sectarian divides: Lessons from the Arab world
Prof. Wim Naudé, UNU WIDER Institute, Finland
Shock Waves: An Economic Perspective on the Recent Global Crises and their Impact on Global Development
Prof. Elnour Abdalla Elsiddig, University of Khartoum, Sudan
Ways for post-conflict management of forest resources in Sudan: The case of Darfur
Prof. Aili Tripp, University of Wisconsin – Madison, United States
Women, Power, and Peacemaking in Africa
The conference invites papers that tackle with security from a broad range of approaches and academic disciplines. The general aim is to bring together researchers, doctoral and undergraduate students to unveil and discuss the interconnected dimensions of security and, respectively, conflict – be they economic, environmental, political, social or military crises. The much spoken-of interdependence between development and security shall itself be placed under careful scrutiny.
The conference is expected to host some 150 researchers from Finland and abroad. It is organized by the Finnish Society for Development Research in association with Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC Finland), Finnish University Netword for International Development (UniPID) and Institute of Development Studies (University of Helsinki).